Vice
by Saro
Summary: SasuNaruNaruSasu. Sasuke squeezed his eyes shut. If he’d wanted to talk to a doctor, he would have asked for a doctor. “No,” he told her instead, with greater patience than he felt. “I’d like to know why I’m here.”
1. Chapter One

Author's Note: This story is crack. It's a bunny that I knew I shouldn't play with, but it grabbed me and wouldn't let go.

Warnings: Blood, demons, sex eventually.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Vice**

Chapter One

* * *

Sasuke woke up sore, his mouth dry, his head pounding. Every breath was a spike of pain driven into his temples. Opening his eyes, he found himself faced with the depressingly familiar sight of a hospital room. Thin grey light filtered in through the blinds, sketching the room in raspy, imperfect detail.

Sasuke sighed, blinked, and sat up, only to clutch his aching head.

He felt like shit. And he had the vague impression there was a very good reason for that. Blinking again, he assessed the damage.

No bandages, which was always a good sign. No casts or splints either, also good. His joints complained as he tried to move them, but he could move them. A little stretching would probably work out the kinks. He cracked his knuckles thoughtfully, then rubbed his forehead.

There didn't seem to be any visible damage - not even scrapes or bruising.

If the hag had healed him, she was losing her touch. He couldn't remember ever having woken up from her treatments so drained and sore still, and he'd had them more often than he cared to admit.

His skin felt raw, like it was sunburned maybe. Even in the poor light, he could see he wasn't burnt, though. His skin looked parchment white.

Forcing his dry throat to swallow, he scanned the bedside for the button that would bring a nurse. With any luck, whoever was on duty could shine some light on why he was here.

The last thing he could remember was facing off against some asshole from Cloud. He'd been an ugly guy. Dark glasses. Big hands. A scar had run down one side of his face. He thought Naruto and Sakura had been there as well - someone had to have brought him back.

Shifting his shoulders, he winced. The burn almost seemed on the inside. He rubbed the backs of his arms uncertainly. Where was that button?

He found it, after a moment, sitting on the edge of a tray left next to his bed. Sasuke grabbed it with shaking hands and pressed the button hard. A buzzer sounded somewhere near by. Fighting for another breath, he leaned carefully back into his pillows and waited for someone to show up.

The sheets were rough against his skin, the blanket too warm, his clothes twisted uncomfortably. _A fever?_ he wondered. Poison, maybe? But there should be some swelling or discoloration or something. Maybe a medical-jutsu. Kabuto had used more than one of those in ways that they weren't intended for, and the results could be devastating. Sasuke didn't think his opponent had been a med-nin, though.

It might be easier to remember if his head didn't feel like it was packed with cotton batting.

The sound of the nurse's flats echoed up the hall. He heard her coming a long time before the door opened, and a woman in white stepped through. She was medium height, he noted automatically. Not heavy, but without the musculature of a kunoichi. Sasuke relaxed a little. Her eyes were brown, her expression sympathetic.

"You're awake," she observed with a strange balance of concern and enthusiasm. "How are you feeling?"

Sasuke didn't bother answering that. He was in a hospital. Was he supposed to wake up chipper? "What - " he rasped, and then paused to clear his throat. That made him cough, which hurt like fuck all. The woman waited patiently while the fit passed.

"What happened?" he asked, finally. His voice was a little stronger, at least.

The woman regarded him silently for a long second before she said, "Would you like to talk to the doctor?"

Sasuke squeezed his eyes shut. If he'd wanted to talk to a doctor, he would have asked for a doctor. "No," he told her instead, with greater patience than he felt. "I'd like to know why I'm here."

"Your friends brought you," she said then. That's a start, Sasuke allowed, taking in the way her brow wrinkled as though she was confused or concerned. At least she answered him this time - for an instant he'd been afraid he was speaking in tongues. "They said you'd been injured on your mission."

"Injured?" Sasuke pressed. "What was wrong with me?"

"I don't know." The crease in her brow folded deeper. "They said that they had to do their best on site, but they weren't sure the technique had taken."

"So Sakura healed me?" That made sense. Though Tsunade had taught her, Sakura was still forty years behind the Hokage. Her healing might still need perfecting.

"I don't know. I could ask my superior? She might have been told who did it."

Sasuke shook his head carefully. "No, it must have been her. Don't worry about it."

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" She asked, eager to help.

Sasuke sighed. "Water?"

"Water," she repeated, nodding. "I'll be right back with some."

Shifting, Sasuke tried to get comfortable again with no more success. The muscles in his back twinged. His leg twitched. The air was too thick, heavy and warm, and it felt artificial with filtering and disinfectant. Maybe he could ask the nurse to open the window when she got back. But then she might open the blinds as well, and he wasn't sure he could handle the light yet.

He made a mental note to tell Sakura her technique could use some work. Not that he meant to sound ungrateful, since this was undoubtedly better than bleeding on the ground somewhere in another country, but if she was going to keep him alive, it would be nice to feel like he was alive too. He yawned and waited for the sound of the nurse's quick, tapping footfalls to come back.

It wasn't long before she reappeared, carrying a tray with a brown plastic pitcher and matching glass. She smiled at him when she swept in.

Sasuke watched her from his position on the bed as she set down the tray and poured his water. He watched the way her wrists bent and she shifted her weight when she put the pitcher down. Her stockings were white, he thought, but they looked grey in this light. Her skin looked a little yellow, almost, and bright in the shadow.

"Thank you," he muttered, forcing his foggy mind to clear. She offered him the glass of water. He was sure that he'd reached out to take the glass - sure of it. Instead his hand touched warm, soft skin. He was dry, lifeless by comparison to her. His thumb moved over the pulse in her wrist. It fluttered as weakly as a butterfly's wings.

Something shook deep in Sasuke's chest. The shudder moved down his spine, vibrated like a bass note in his lungs.

The water glass fell out of her grip, spilling a cold patch across the blankets that covered him. Sasuke didn't look at it, didn't look away from her arm and her shocked, half-hearted attempt to pull free without hurting him. He didn't even blink, watching the way she moved.

He pulled her closer to the bed. She wasn't nearly strong enough to resist. The warmth of her arm seeped into his hand, and suddenly the atmosphere wasn't so unbearably uncomfortable. His hand ached, and his jaw, his teeth, but it wasn't the same as before. It wasn't dull the way that had been. It wasn't really pain at all. Not really.

He ran his thumb over her pulse point.

His foggy mind focused, but there was nothing there other than the fog. It wasn't right.

He licked his lips. There was something, something under her skin and in it, in her... Something he needed in that strange, clear haze. Something he knew on a visceral level would make him not feel like shit.

He almost laughed, just a short little bark of a chuckle, but it stuck in his dry throat.

She said something inane. He didn't catch the words, just the frantic chatter of her voice. He ignored it, breathing her in. He could smell it, under the scent of soap and hairspray; it buzzed. There was no other word for it. It was almost like chakra thrumming in the air around her, and in her flesh, but not.

Something was wrong.

Her knees hit the bed, and finally she tried to jerk away from him more forcefully. She twisted away, pulling hard and throwing her weight backward. Her shoes slipped on the tile, making shuffling sounds.

He was hardly thinking as he pulled her half on top of him. He wasn't thinking at all when he let go of her arm and grabbed her face, pressing her lips to his in a motion that wasn't at all a kiss. Her hands groped at his shoulders, struggling to push him away.

He could open her up and drink her like water. He knew it. He felt it, in the heat that seemed to be growing under his palms and against his lips. It was in her, in her blood, in her skin, her hair, her look, in the tears just starting to fall from her eyes and in the slick saliva that he tasted on her mouth - everything. He moved to her cheek, catching a tear on the tip of his tongue, then brushed his lips against her trembling eyelid. She whimpered, and it - whatever it was - tingled through him, banishing the soreness, soothing over something raw and new in him.

She gasped, trying to get free of him. Detachedly, he wondered why she wasn't screaming.

Something was very, very wrong.

He touched his lips to her cheek, her chin, her neck. Every contact brought more of it. There was a flavor almost on his tongue and half remembered.

His mouth closed over her neck, and he bit her, but gently. There was no reason not to be gentle. The nurse froze over him, arching away. She wasn't as warm any more. Her skin parted easier than it should have under his teeth.

He knew the taste of blood very well, but this had _it _in it. It wasn't the blood itself, but released from the wound into the air. He could drink her blood. He could breathe _it _in the air.

His hands shook as he held her still.

This was very, very fucking wrong...

A buzzer sounded somewhere far off. Sasuke let go of the nurse in a rush and she flopped free of his arms. She fell to the floor bonelessly, the call button clutched in her hand.

Panting, Sasuke jumped out of bed, instinct putting his back to the wall while he scanned the room rapidly. There was nothing there. He saw pale blue walls, turned grey by the light. Flecked green and grey tile floor spread out under him. The hospital bed waited, wet and rumbled, in the middle of the room. The nurse bled from a superficial wound on her neck, which didn't explain why she looked so pale, or why her lips were nearly the same corpse-color as the wall.

She moved feebly, awake but clearly insensible.

Consciously, he slowed his breathing. He couldn't stop the tremor in his shoulders, or the wobble in his knees, but his head cleared rabidly. He didn't hurt anymore. Not at all.

Sasuke let himself slide down the wall, falling to the floor in an undignified pile.

"What the fuck?"

* * *

To be continued. 


	2. Chapter Two

Author's Note: This story is crack. It's a bunny that I knew I shouldn't play with, but it grabbed me and wouldn't let go.

Warnings: Blood, demons, sex eventually.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Vice**

Chapter Two

* * *

Sasuke didn't stay in the hospital long after he recovered, and he recovered quicker than he could credit. The nurse still lay on the floor when he left, and it was his good luck that no one had come to investigate the call. He hoped, as he snuck out the window and squinted against the bright late morning sun, that someone found her soon. Whatever he'd done, he did in a convenient place at least.

He felt better. Not good, precisely, but better. He was tired, and he was confused.

The fangs he had found after letting go of the nurse had shrunk away. So had the claws. This, he took to be a good sign. He didn't know how the hell else to take it.

He remembered Naruto, remembered the way he'd changed when his chakra turned red.

He went to see Sakura instead.

Barefoot and wearing hospital clothes, he hurried toward the Haruno house. It didn't seem likely she'd be there in the middle of the day, but Sasuke couldn't think of a better place to start. If she wasn't, there was a chance that her mother would be. He saved the question of how he'd ask Sakura's mother where she had gone, dressed as he was, for later.

It was a trick to move like everything was normal. He wanted to hurry so he could find out what the hell had happened.

It was a bigger trick to ignore that whatever had happened in the hospital room was happening still. He could feel it around him everywhere when he pushed into the more crowded areas of the town. He could feel it in everyone.

Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest, tucking his hands against his body, and walked faster.

In front of Sakura's house, he paused. The main door was closed; the lights downstairs were off. Gritting his teeth, Sasuke searched for some sign of life. Then he realized he was procrastinating and frowned. Staring at the house front wasn't going to do him any good.

But how the hell was he going to explain this to Sakura?

He couldn't imagine she already knew, did she? If she had, she would never have let him wake up alone to attack a nurse. No, whatever had happened, she wouldn't know about it. He was sure.

She would know how the mission had ended, though. If that bastard he fought had done something, she would know. She had to.

_Sakura, do you know why when I came to in the hospital, I was a..._ A what? He took a deep breath. Fuck it. Just standing here wasn't going to make this conversation any easier.

There were people everywhere out here, practically glowing at him. When he breathed in, he caught the flavor in the air, something bright and heady.

And he forced himself to admit he was almost afraid to be alone with Sakura.

Almost.

After another instant of staring at the house, he squared his shoulders and walked up to the door. He rang the door bell, and prayed to any god that might listen that Sakura answered the door rather than her parents. He didn't want to see any more people than necessary. He just wanted this fixed as soon as possible.

He heard the deadbolt pull and the door swung open. Sakura appeared in the gap, looking tired. Her eyes widened when she saw him, but that was the only sign of surprise.

"Sasuke-kun," she began critically, the exact instant he knew she noticed his clothes. "What are you doing here? You should be in bed."

"I checked myself out," Sasuke lied.

"I see. Sasuke-kun, you really - "

"Can I come in?" he interrupted her. "Please, I have to talk." The words came out too fast, more desperate than he meant them to. He could feel her, too, stronger than the others. Standing next to her was like facing the sun with his eyes closed and feeling the light soak through his clothes into his body.

Sasuke wished his pants had pockets. He didn't like not trusting himself.

Wordlessly, Sakura moved aside so he could step inside the house.

"No one else is home," she said after he'd come in, leading him into the family room. One corner of Sasuke's mouth tugged up in half a smile. She was a bright girl. "Can I get you something? Some water or tea...?"

"No," he told her. "I'm fine. I just need to talk to you."

Sakura sat down slowly, folding her hands in her lap. "Okay," she told him. Her expression was free of romantic notions. He saw only worry in her face. "We can talk."

Sasuke took a seat well away from her. He ignored the look she gave him as he picked a chair. At the moment, keeping some distance was the best protection he could give her.

He was surprised how that stung. He wasn't sure how he could tell her that without it hurting more.

He chewed on his lower lip, noticed, and stopped himself consciously. "Sakura, I," he said, then stopped. Pausing, he turned over what he was going to say. He changed his mind three times before finally continuing. "What happened to the mission? I don't remember everything."

"Sasuke? What's this about?"

He grimaced, hating his himself more than he had in years. "I need to know."

"Alright," she said finally, carefully. "Alright, I'll tell you. What's the last thing you remember?"

The silence stretched and he wondered if he should tell her more. Should he tell her what had happened? He opened his mouth to, but he couldn't quite manage it, not with her green eyes watching him that way. Not when the pity he saw in her could be used against her. Not when a part of him wanted to do that, and hold her body until it was cold.

He clenched his hands around each other so hard it made bloodless marks around his fingers.

"I remember I was going to fight someone," he said instead. "After that, it's a mess."

"Okay." She watched him, shifting like she might come closer, but she stayed where she was. Sasuke was very grateful she was a bright girl. "Okay. The man you fought, do you remember him? Or do you just remember that you fought someone?"

"I remember him a little." He could almost picture him if he closed his eyes, but not quite. He couldn't make the memory solid. He didn't explain that.

Sakura nodded. After a minute, she told him, "The man you fought was a Cloud jounin. He hurt you badly in the fight. Naruto and I, we didn't see most of what happened, but we think it was an escape tactic. He... you were in pretty bad shape when we found you."

Sasuke bowed his head. This made sense. A worm of fear squirmed in his stomach - if she wasn't there, maybe she didn't know what happened. Pushing it down, he prompted, "Then you healed me and brought me back to the village?"

"Yeah," she agreed, then amended, "sort of."

Sasuke's ears pricked. "Sort of?"

"Well, Naruto found you first. I was still fighting - I couldn't pull back to help."

The pieces were threatening to fall into place in Sasuke's head. "Are you saying that Naruto healed me?"

"Not healed, exactly. I did that, but there was really no need for it. Most of the damage had mended itself by then. Naruto doesn't know any medical-ninjutsu, and frankly I'd be afraid to let him try them if he did. He - "

"He?" Sasuke repeated urgently. What the fuck had Naruto done? The fangs and the claws were so familiar, but it didn't make sense.

"He leant you his chakra," she explained. "A lot of it. He said that if it worked for him, he thought it might work for you. You'd have died otherwise, and it seemed to help."

_Naruto_, he thought, and his jaw tightened. _You idiot. Did it ever occur to you that sharing demon possession was a bad idea? _ He should have helped Sakura. He should have let the person who actually fucking knew what she was doing fix him. Was that so complicated?

"Sasuke-kun, are you okay? Sakura asked, standing and taking one step toward him. He looked up at her, part of him wanting her to take the next step. Too much of him. She'd let him. She'd let him touch her, sucking out everything vital. She might not even notice it. His hands started to shake again.

Fuck!

He bolted to his feet, backing away from her. "I have to talk to Naruto," he told her curtly, and made himself not think about the way he wanted to taste her.

She was so much brighter than the people he had passed on the street.

"Sasuke-kun!" she snapped, moving to block his way to the door. "What the hell is going on?"

"Sakura, I..." He what? "I'll explain later. I have to talk to Naruto now."

"Why? Sasuke-kun, what's the matter? Did it not work right - are you okay?" She was close. She was getting too close. He could have grabbed her so easily, but he wouldn't have had to. He didn't have to because he could have taken her hand, reassured her, taking everything he wanted while he did.

He was hungry, damn it.

And manifestly, it all made sense. He was fucking hungry. Anger burned his face and his stomach, and he held onto it because it made it easier to brush past Sakura without stopping, without taking everything she would offer him and more. He punched the wall by the door; the plaster cracked, caving in under his fist.

"I'll explain later." Then he was out the door.

He hardly registered the walk to Naruto's apartment, bare feet be damned.

He noticed the stairs as he stomped up them, and the door when he pounded on it hard enough to rattle the hinges. Naruto's outraged shout made it worse. He didn't know what he was going to say when Naruto opened the door, or what he'd do. His hands itched, and he heard his own blood rushing through his ears.

The knob turned, and Sasuke pushed it inward, slamming past Naruto in a rush.

"What the - !" Naruto started, but Sasuke overrode him.

"What the fuck did you do to me?" he demanded, reaching out and grabbing Naruto's arm. He didn't stop himself when he tried to feed on the other man - he couldn't. This was his fault.

The response was instant.

Red chakra bubbled up, fast and hot as wildfire, laced with disdain. Red eyes flashed at him, the pupils narrowing to bare slits. Naruto wrenched his arm away from Sasuke at the same time his chakra pushed forward. Staggering back a step, Sasuke cracked his head sharply against the wall. Sparks danced through his vision.

Sasuke shook off the stun as he straightened. Naruto's eyes locked on him, fading back to blue. They were wide and angry, and little sneer lines creased the sides of his nose.

"You," Sasuke snapped, "what did you do? What the fuck did you do?"

"What the fuck are you talking about? And what was that?"

Sasuke glared, forcing himself still. He could feel Naruto. Not his damn chakra, no, or not just that. It was thick around him, but not like Sakura's. This was hotter, heavier, and struck a disturbingly familiar resonance inside him.

He stood in a kiln.

And he wanted to stay there.

"I'm talking about whatever the fuck you did," he said as clearly and slowly as he could, like he was speaking to a particularly dense child. "Sakura said that you gave me your chakra, you utter moron. Did it occur to you that forcing your demon into other people was a fucking bad idea?"

"Wait a minute, I didn't - "

"Then what did you do, huh?"

Naruto shut his mouth. A muscle in his cheek jumped angrily. They stood there, exchanging stares, and the longer Sasuke met Naruto's gaze, the more aware he was of the power that boiled over with his agitation. It was thoughtless as an angry cat lashing its tail. Part of Sasuke wanted to look away. The bigger part wanted to pick a fight.

"Sasuke," Naruto said finally, his voice grating. "If you don't start making sense, I'm going to knock you around until you do. Now what the fuck are you talking about?"

Sasuke's skin crawled. His teeth hurt, and he knew what it was. Fine, let Naruto see it. He bit off his answer one word at a time. "I'm talking about waking up in a hospital and almost eating the nurse."

Naruto blinked, his expression relaxing in confusion. "Want to repeat that in a language that makes sense?"

"It doesn't matter what language it's in. It won't make sense."

Scratching his cheek idly, Naruto said, "I'd believe that."

Sasuke scowled. "It's your fault. You did it."

"What the hell did I do?"

Narrowing his eyes and tilting his head, Sasuke pushed himself off the wall and inched closer to the other ninja. "Even you aren't this stupid. You used that monster to heal me - Sakura said so."

"Okay..." Naruto agreed slowly. "I did. What happened?"

"I already told you. I woke up in the hospital and tried to _eat _the nurse. I went to Sakura's, and I couldn't even stand close to her. I..." He trailed off helplessly. "I needed it, Naruto. I still need it, and it's your fucking fault!"

There was a long, uncomfortable pause.

Then Naruto shook his head. "Sasuke, I still don't understand what you're saying. You're going to have to be clearer than that."

"Naruto..." Sasuke shook his head. How could Naruto not get it? He had to. If that thing was in him, he had to get it. He couldn't explain it if Naruto didn't get it. Deliberately, Sasuke raised his hand. Naruto tensed, rearing back, but Sasuke made no move to touch him. Instead he made sure his teammate could see his hand clearly, could see his nails as they turned long and thick, and pointed. This, at least, Naruto must understand. Sasuke had seen it happen to him more than once.

The muscles moved in the back of his hand, his fingers jerking. The bones and tendons stood out rigid under the skin until, finally, the claws weren't growing anymore. Just there, sitting on the ends of his fingers as though they belonged.

"Does it make sense now?"

Naruto eyed him warily. "A little more, yeah. Now what do you mean, you tried to eat a nurse?"

Sasuke growled in his throat - a strange sound, but he didn't bother to stop it. At this point, it just proved what he was saying. "I mean that when the nurse came in, I tried to eat her. I realize there are different ways to take that, but it's not that obscure."

"Sasuke..."

"Ask that damn kitsune, if you don't believe me. I'm sure he understands."

Naruto's brows drew down, tilting his eyes. "It doesn't work like that. I've talked to that thing a handful of times. It's not like we chat."

"So you can't ask him?"

"I didn't say that," Naruto snapped back. "But that doesn't mean he'll answer. It doesn't mean I can hear him half the time without trying at all."

Sasuke swore, vehemently. "Then ask him what _he _ did, if it wasn't you. I want to know what the fuck's going on."

"It's not that easy! It's not like he's in the back of my head all the time or anything. I didn't even know he was there until I was twelve." The blond raked a hand through his hair, then made a frustrated sound. The energy around him whirled. It wasn't forceful enough to be felt physically, but Sasuke could sense it, and it was still powerful.

He pushed back the part of him that wanted it. He didn't understand how Naruto could throw off energy so carelessly when he craved it so bad.

"You won't even try?" Sasuke asked.

"Even if I did, I wouldn't trust what he said," Naruto shot the answer back. "I don't know anything about kitsune."

"You've had one in you, and you don't know anything?" Bristling, he crept closer. Naruto's chakra flared at his proximity. The marks on his cheeks darkened, eyes wavering red again before returning to normal.

When Naruto spoke, his voice was harsh. "Don't do that."

"Don't do what?" His own voice wasn't right. Sasuke swallowed in a vain attempt to clear his throat. Lip curling, he said, "Don't get closer to you?"

Naruto snarled right back at him, "Yes!" Then he pushed past, brushing by him in the middle of a flurry of angry chakra. The presence was so powerful that, for a second, it hurt. Even when Naruto moved away, Sasuke could feel it filling the apartment. It teased him. "Yes," Naruto repeated, sitting on his couch. "It puts me on edge. Now shut the door and come sit down."

Then Naruto added quietly, "I can't believe I'm going to do this."

Sasuke didn't sit for long. He couldn't hold still, and he preferred to pace rather than fidget.

Apparently, speaking with the Kyuubi involved a lot of sitting very quietly and staring at nothing.

The hair on the back of Sasuke's neck stood on end. He wasn't sure how long he could take this. His skin crawled, and something in him that was him but wasn't wanted nothing more than to move as close to his friend as he dared and simply soak up the power that rolled off him as casually as body heat.

Knowing Naruto could have given him what he needed only made it worse. Unlike the nurse or Sakura, Naruto probably wouldn't bat an eyelash at the loss. Sasuke was sure if he tried to take all of what Naruto had in him, he'd be incinerated - or maybe simply burst.

He ground his teeth, ignoring the ache in them, and stalked the confines of Naruto's small studio apartment.

Minutes went by, made longer by Sasuke's restlessness. Minutes might have piled up to an hour by the time Naruto shook himself and shot Sasuke a glare.

"Will you calm down?"

Sasuke noised a disgusted grunt. "What did he say?"

Naruto rubbed the bridge of his nose. "He called you an ignorant whelp. Is that helpful?"

"That can't be all," Sasuke said, pausing in his circuit of the room. "What else did he say?"

Rubbing his temples wearily, Naruto said, "There was a lot of laughing, too. Sasuke, I told you he wouldn't be helpful, and I told you that we couldn't trust him. What more do you want?"

"What did he say?"

The blond shook his head. Couch creaking, he leaned back and fixed Sasuke with a long, clear look. "He said that you're an ignorant whelp, and that you'll be lucky to live long enough to actually get away with this kind of bullshit. And he laughed at both of us. The bastard's having the most fun he's had since he was sealed." He stopped there, and Sasuke could see him waiting for his speech to set in. After a moment, he asked, "Happy?"

"That's useless!" Sasuke protested, and Naruto snorted.

"Yeah, it is." He sighed heavily. "Sasuke, sit down. It might not be that bad - maybe it'll go away. You're probably making it worse by getting so worked up."

Chakra and life moved through the room like a strong wind, nearly a tactile sensation on Sasuke's skin. The need was sharp, sharper with so much around him. He was starving at a banquet. And somehow, Sasuke doubted it would just go away like that. He shivered. He shivered, and he wanted, and he needed to know what the fuck was going on.

More than that, he needed to stop remembering the nurse's taste, Sakura's light.

"Sit the fuck down!" Naruto snapped, bringing back Sasuke's attention. "Whatever you're doing, knock it off. You're making it worse."

"How can you tell?"

Naruto laughed. "It doesn't take a genius to figure that out."

Snorting, Sasuke did sit. Naruto relaxed a bit more when he had, throwing one arm over the back of the couch. Sasuke watched as he leaned back and looked at the ceiling. Naruto's neck arched, adam's apple sliding under tan skin, muscles defined in the sunlight that poured in through the apartment's dirty windows. Dust motes and power.

Sasuke looked away, dragging his mind away from his hunger. "What makes you think it might not be permanent?"

"What makes you think it is?" Naruto asked, and shrugged one shoulder. "If it's from my chakra, then it should go away once that's out of your system, right? Maybe this is some kind of withdrawal or something."

"Naruto," Sasuke said, blinking his surprise. "That almost makes sense."

"Thanks, I think." Naruto's chest rose and fell with his breathing, stretching his black tee shirt. "What we should be doing is talking to someone who actually knows about this shit."

"You were supposed to know about this shit."

"Why?" Naruto retorted, his head snapping up. "Because I got stuck with a damn kitsune?"

"Because you did it," Sasuke explained shortly.

"What kind of reason is that?"

"Do you normally do things you know absolutely nothing about, dumbass?"

Naruto's chakra roiled at that, red and aggressive. It sizzled across Sasuke's senses, barely there but much, much too tangible to ignore. He held back the urge to go closer. His hands started shaking again. He wanted it so much...

"Sasuke!" Naruto barked, and Sasuke realized he'd missed something.

He took a deep, slow breath to clear his head. "What?"

"We should talk to Tsunade or Jiraiya. They'd probably know more than me anyway."

Sasuke let his breath out slowly. His stomach turned, not really hungry, but uneasy. "Naruto," he began, not even knowing what he was going to say. He was measuring the distance between them.

A staccato rap on the door saved him from having to say anything.

* * *

To be continued. 


	3. Chapter Three

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone for the reviews. They are greatly appreciated. Hopefully as things play out, everything will make more sense for people. Thanks again.

Warnings: Blood, demons, sex eventually.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

**Vice**

Chapter Three

* * *

"Who is it?" Naruto shouted, not bothering to get up. Whoever it was could damn well yell, because Naruto wasn't taking his eyes off Sasuke.

"It's me," came the reply. He would have known Kakashi's voice anywhere. Naruto slumped, unsurprised. "I'd like to speak with Sasuke, if he's there."

_Well, _Naruto thought, matching Sasuke's eyes and hoping he understood. _Your show, buddy. Do I let him in?_ Sasuke met his look blankly, his eyes a little too wide, a little too shiny, lips just slightly parted. He looked half wild. Then, too late to be casual, he gave Naruto half a shrug.

Naruto was silently grateful.

"Come on in then," he called. "The bastard left it unlocked."

The door creaked open and Kakashi stepped through, followed by a tentative Sakura. The girl blushed when she caught sight of Sasuke, shifting her weight guiltily.

Immediately, Sasuke's expression became strained.

"They found Fuyo-san," Kakashi said without preamble, his tone deceptively bland.

"Fuyo?" Sasuke repeated, his eyes squeezing shut. Naruto watched uneasily--there was something more than a little wrong with his friend. If he hadn't known that before, it would have been clear then. Sasuke looked nauseous. "Was that the nurse?

"Yeah," Kakashi said. His voice nearly sounded like he was smiling. "That was the nurse."

"How is she?"

"She'll be fine."

"That's good, isn't it?" Naruto asked, suddenly feeling left out. Sasuke wasn't looking at any of them.

"Oh, sure," agreed Kakashi. "Better than if she died."

There was a long paused. Their teacher let it drag. Naruto grit his teeth. The atmosphere in his apartment became stifling.

"So?" Sasuke prompted after too much time had passed.

"The Fifth would like to see you. You're not to interact with anyone ranked below chuunin on your way there."

Sasuke hugged his arms to his chest and bent forward, looking ready to curl into a ball. Naruto watched his friend as he drifted, trembling slightly, before he composed himself. It was enough to make him feel sick with sympathy. He knew how much Sasuke hated to be seen down. Slowly straightening, the Uchiha nodded his acquiesce.

Kakashi waited while Sasuke stood. His visible eye was weary.

"If it's any consolation, you didn't need to worry so much about Sakura," their teacher said. "You're a powerful ninja, but as monsters go, you aren't that scary."

Dark chakra lashed at out that, and Sasuke's shoulders squared. The short hair on the back of Naruto's arms stood on end, and he fought back a growl. Every time Sasuke did that, it put his hackles up. The chakra nipped at him, irritating.

"Shall we go?"

Noising an agreement, Sasuke walked to the door. He didn't go any closer to Sakura than absolutely necessary.

Kakashi followed him out.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto said once they were gone. "Do you know what that was about?"

The girl started, then shook her head.

Naruto stood up and went to find his shoes.

No one had told them not to follow Sasuke and Kakashi. No one invited either, either, but he and Sakura were there when Sasuke got to Tsunade's office.

If the guards let them in, then he figured they must be welcome. Sasuke was their teammate, and it seemed that whatever was wrong, it had to do with Naruto specifically.

He had every right to be there, really.

Tsunade glared at him when he entered, brown eyes sharp as they cut from Sasuke to him and back again. "Why is it," she said with a long suffering air, "that whenever something goes wrong, I can count on someone from your team being involved?"

Sakura was the only one who flinched at that question, quietly taking a place with her back to the wall. Kakashi just shrugged.

Naruto would have made a crack about her luck, but he was too busy keeping an eye on Sasuke. Sasuke, who took a seat in front of Tsunade's desk, but refused to meet her eyes, or anyone else's. Sasuke, who was still in his hospital clothes, and didn't have his shoes on. Sasuke, who twitched and jerked like a nervous rabbit at every surprise.

Sasuke, who sulked like he was twelve again and could still pull that kind of bullshit.

Crossing the office, Naruto perched on a window sill, leaving the second chair for Kakashi. The sun was warm on his back and hair. It could have been a comfortable place to sit under other circumstances.

"Alright," Tsunade said. Rolling a scroll and setting it aside definitively, signaling the beginning of the interview. "I'd like an explanation. Now."

"So would I," Sasuke growled sullenly.

A frown turned down Tsunade's mouth, and through her illusion, she still managed to look brittle with age.

"I'm not having you arrested at this point. Don't press your luck though, kid. I'm not a patient woman," the Hokage warned. "So, who does know what's happened? There's an exhausted, hysterical woman with a rather nasty bite on her neck in the hospital, and if I can't know why, then I'd still like to know how she got there."

"Kakashi said she'd be okay," Naruto said, hopefully.

Tsunade snorted. "Oh, she'll be fine with some rest and antibiotics. That doesn't change that she's there. Now, kindly, tell me what the hell happened."

After a pause, shifting quietly, Sasuke did. He explained slowly, pulling out words and sentences and weighing them carefully before he laid them out. He told Tsunade that there had been a fight on their last mission, and that he'd been hurt. He said that he didn't remember it. He told her that Naruto had used his chakra to keep him alive. It seemed to have done the trick. Then he'd woken up in the hospital.

He told her what had happened when the nurse had come to see him. He said that she hadn't been particularly helpful, but eventually, she'd made herself useful. That, Naruto hadn't heard. Tsunade's eyes narrowed at his choice of words, but Sasuke didn't seem to notice.

"I asked for some water," Sasuke said, "and when she came back, something happened. There was something in her I wanted, and I grabbed her, and pulled it out."

A tremor moved through his shoulders as Sasuke said that, and Naruto's patch of sun suddenly seemed less warm.

"And that's it?" Tsunade asked. She ran her fingers through her bangs, propping her head up on her arm.

Sasuke nodded. "That's it."

The Hokage grunted, dissatisfied. "Anyone have anything to add to that?"

Naruto closed his eyes and leaned into the sunlight. Did he have anything to add? "The Kyuubi thinks it's hilarious," he offered, remembering the demon's deep, rolling chuckles. "It's his fault, whatever it is."

"Lovely." Tsunade flopped onto both elbows and massaged her temples. "So it's a kitsune thing."

"That's what we think," Sasuke said.

"And the primary symptom seems to be draining the life and chakra out of people?"

"Yes." Sasuke's voice was low. His dark eyes looked hallow in his pale face, expressive with things Naruto didn't know how to interpret. His shoulders hunched forward, and he leaned away from the Hokage. Sasuke frowned, his mouth drawing a sullen line.

"Are there any other signs we should know about?" Tsunade asked wearily.

"I don't think so."

"You don't think so," she said, twisting his words. "Shit. Half of me wants to tell you to come directly to me if something of this nature happens again, and the other half wants to know how it could happen just once. Naruto," she looked at him, pausing and, then continued, "what the hell possessed you to share the Nine-Tail's chakra?"

Sasuke chuckled, the sound dry and nearly inaudible.

"What? This is my fault? He's the one who ate a nurse," Naruto shot back. "It's not like I had a whole lot of options. It worked didn't it?"

"Insofar as he's alive," Tsunade allowed. She sighed then, heavily. Sasuke hunched further, his normally relaxed posture subverted into something defensive and nearly animal.

Shortly, Tsunade straightened. "I suppose there's nothing to do about that part now. Fuyo might have a scar, but nothing else permanent and there was no other damage. Sasuke, I expect you to compensate her for the work she'll miss."

Sasuke nodded. No one else said anything for a long moment. The silence was uncomfortable. Naruto crossed his arms, waiting for more. There had to be more than that. At the very least, she couldn't trust Sasuke to go free. He ground his teeth, holding his tongue.

It was Sakura who finally spoke nervously. "What now?"

"Now," Tsunade said, that sardonic smile returning. "Now, I try to find someone who knows more about kitsune than I do."

"What until then?" Naruto asked. He was proud of himself; he didn't shout.

"He's your problem until then. Keep him away from people who can't defend themselves. I won't have a repeat of this morning's incident." Tsunade raked the team with her eyes. "Naruto, you stay a bit. The rest of you, take him," she indicated Sasuke with a jerk of her chin, "home."

Sakura inclined her head promptly, still so intimidated by the Hokage--Naruto almost snickered at that. Kakashi stood up with loose ease and laid a hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

Sasuke twitched, flinching away from the touch.

"We'll keep an eye on him," he said. "But that will interfere with taking missions."

"With any luck, it won't be for that long. Now," she told them, waving dismissively. "I have a few things to take care of."

Then the team left, and Naruto stayed behind. He didn't bother moving; the sun was warm on his back and in his hair, seeping through his jacket. He wished he could enjoy it more. He watched Sasuke go, noting the way he moved. So tense. So suspicious. So not Sasuke, in some other strange way that Naruto had trouble defining.

"Well?" he asked when the others had gone.

Tsunade turned to face him. "Don't scowl at me," she said sharply. "I want to check your seal."

Naruto frowned, caught himself, and consciously relaxed his face a bit. His brow was still tight. He couldn't let go of the knots there. If it wasn't good enough, that was her problem. "The seal?"

"Of course the seal," Tsunade said. "I want to make sure it hasn't weakened. If the fox can influence Sasuke..." She trailed off pointedly.

The frown came back, bunching Naruto's forehead and twisting the corners of his mouth. "It can't. The seal's still good."

"Can you blame me for wanting to be sure?" She raised one eyebrow derisively, but the words came out neutral. "Now; shirt, off."

"You could at least ask nicely," Naruto huffed, unzipping his jacket and shrugging out of it. The tee shirt came off next. Both garments ended up in a wad on the floor. Naruto leaned back, pretending to savor the sun on his bare skin--he was stalling, and he knew it.

"This is depressing. It's been so long since I had a half naked man in my office, and when I do get one, it's you."

"Please, don't follow that train of thought any further."

Tsunade's lips quirked toward a half-smile. "Don't get full of yourself, brat. You're still too young for me. Now, if you'll gather your chakra."

"I'll _always_ be too young for you," Naruto muttered, but he did as he was told. Hands before him, he shaped a seal and concentrated. Before long, he knew that the seal on his stomach had appeared. He didn't look down until Tsunade stepped closer, though.

Her touch was professionally impersonal as she traced the spiral with her fingernail. The mark was as dark as ever, unchanged over the years, save that the body it was on had grown harder. The muscles in his stomach were rough cut under his skin, pulling and puckering the seal. He didn't think that made a difference, though; he hoped it didn't.

Tsunade flattened her palm against his belly, and Naruto felt the cool tingle of her chakra probing the seal. It tickled, sort of. Like having a scalpel waiting just against his skin might tickle.

He held his breath, waiting.

She moved her hand, spreading her fingers over the width of the seal. The tickle grew stronger until, somewhere undefined within him, the Kyuubi stirred. The fox seemed to brush against the confines of its cage while Tsunade's chakra traced the other side.

When she finally pulled away, there was a line between her finely plucked eyebrows. She tapped her lips thoughtfully. The sense of the Kyuubi moving within him faded without her there to pull it out. "I sometimes wish that the Fourth had lived just so I could ask him what he was thinking when he made this seal."

"What does that mean?" Naruto demanded. Then, as an after thought, "Can I put my clothes back on?"

Tsunade flipped a hand at him, gesturing for him to get dressed. "It means," she said while he picked up his shirt, "that there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the seal, but it's hard to be sure. I don't think the Kyuubi is influencing Sasuke directly, though, which is a relief."

"I told you it couldn't," Naruto said, shoving his arms into his tee shirt. "I'd know if it could."

She snorted, saying only, "It doesn't hurt to be sure."

Naruto finished dressing in silence. He couldn't blame her for wanting to be careful, he supposed, but that didn't stop him from resenting that she hadn't taken his word for it. It was easy to resent things with the Kyuubi so close to the surface. Between whatever Sasuke was doing and Tsunade's prodding, he was stirring more than normal. It put Naruto on edge, turning his stomach slightly.

"So you don't think the fox is affecting Sasuke directly," Naruto said, biting back his temper. "That's a good thing, right?"

"It's not a bad thing," Tsunade corrected, as though there was a difference.

"Okay." Naruto scratched his chin. "Anything else?"

Tsunade shook her head. "Keep an eye on that boy. I don't trust him on a good day, let alone on days he decides 'leech' might be a good move on his part."

Naruto bit his lip, holding back a protest. He couldn't really defend Sasuke to her, no matter how much he might want to. Under the circumstances, it didn't seem like there was much to argue.

* * *

To be continued. 


	4. Chapter Four

Author's Note: Do not expect all the chapters to update this fast. This chapter wrote itself very, very quickly. No complaints, but this is not normal.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter.

Warnings: Blood, demons, sex eventually.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Vice**

Chapter Four

* * *

The afternoon was passed slowly, wandering from room to room in Sasuke's apartment. There weren't that many - kitchen, livingroom, bed and bath. There was a tiny corner where the livingroom and the kitchen met with linoleum flooring rather than the eggshell-brown carpet, and which the landlord called a diningroom. The landlord called it that because he was a far more generous man than Sasuke was.

Sakura and Kakashi left shortly after dropping Sasuke off. Sakura had given him a brief, supportive hug before she left, which was both incredibly trusting and deliberately stupid on her part. Her life had flared around him, tantalizing, and while he liked to believe he could have controlled himself, he was also honest enough to recognize that the reason he hadn't tasted that power was because he was so shocked to find himself surrounded by it. She had released him and backed off by the time he recovered. Kakashi left with a wave, saying he'd "be around." Sasuke wasn't unhappy to see them go.

Alone in his apartment, he felt more normal. Without the constant temptation, his hunger eased.

He noticed other changes more when it wasn't an issue, too. He noticed that he wasn't moving or seeing right. He noticed that he couldn't seem to sit still. He noticed that he wanted onigiri, which wasn't actually so odd, but he resented that there were none, which was.

He noticed that his eyes were vivid red-orange when he looked in the mirror, like cherry amber, the pupils slit. No one had mentioned that. His stomach sank when he saw, and he didn't crave onigiri anymore.

He avoided the mirror for the rest of the afternoon. He couldn't quite bring himself to activate Sharingan. Those eyes... he wasn't ready to deal with that yet.

Naruto dropped by that evening; he didn't stay long. They spoke little, and what conversation they had was stilted. It was hard to focus when Naruto's life force breezed thoughtlessly through the apartment. Naruto brought takeout noodles with him, though, which was nice. "Since I didn't figure you'd want to cook," he said when shoved the white takeout bag into Sasuke's hands. "Not that I can see letting you shop and all." It wasn't what Sasuke really wanted, but better than nothing.

He was hungrier than he'd have thought. It seemed like he shouldn't be, not in the traditional sense, not when he could suck the life out of people. But he hadn't eaten all day, and as soon as he took the first bite of noodles, his stomach started to mutter, and his appetite recovered full force. The rest of the evening was spent picking through his nearly bare fridge and half empty cupboards.

If this lasted more than another day, Sasuke would have to ask Sakura to pick up groceries for him. He'd thrown out everything that might spoil before their last mission.

Sasuke tried reading, but he couldn't read more than three pages or so without getting distracted. He wasn't really that big a reader at the best of times.

He tried watching television, but it bored him or it irritated him, and he just kept changing the channel. There weren't that many channels.

In the end, he went to bed early for lack of something better to do. Sleep didn't come quickly, though.

For a long time, he lay there and pretended not to be awake. He pretended not to feel the sheets, too warm and tangling constantly with his legs. He pretended not to see the clock, cycling steadily through numbers. He tried not to toss and turn, but he couldn't seem to find a comfortable position on his bed. He tried not to kick off the blankets, but he was too warm with them; he tried to ignore the draft after he'd kicked them down to the foot of the bed, but it was too cold without.

He ignored the sounds of the building settling, and the sounds from his neighbors that came through the walls. He ignored the wind and the light that seeped in under the drapes, and the scurrying of squirrels over his balcony and through the eaves.

Eventually, he drifted not quite to sleep, but more asleep than awake. He blinked occasionally, or he thought he did. He was aware of the knot of blankets he'd caught himself in, and of his own idle struggling.

When he started dreaming, he knew they were dreams.

They were all jumbled, the impressions disjointed and barely related. He might be running, and when he ran, he might be on two legs, or he might be on four. Then, suddenly, he'd be eating. Or feeding. Vaguely, and with dreamlike certainty, he knew the difference. Then he was fighting, and he might be grappling like a human, or he might be struggling to sink his teeth in some place soft.

There wasn't any logic to the dreams, and he wasn't really a part of them at first. He hovered, like a swimmer with his head just below the surface and watching the world above fracture on the choppy water. Still there was his bed, his sheets clinging to him, his alarm clock telling time. His body, a real weight and human shaped beside the shifting form in the dream. He shuddered and turned, strangely comforted.

But even when he opened his eyes, he was dreaming. He felt the body he fought, smelled forest air, tasted blood and fur while he stared at the clean white plaster of his ceiling.

He closed his eyes and found himself on two legs - he preferred that to four, at least. He was running; not hunting, but hunted, and totally unafraid. He was leading the chase, and he laughed. He could hear his pursuers crashing through the undergrowth; he could hear their dogs baying. He could feel the men, hot-blooded with the chase, and he could drink them out of the air.

He closed his eyes again, and there were bodies. Some of them warm and breathing, others cold, pushed aside when they couldn't offer anything more, but all twined together. The warm ones didn't even see the cold, or if they did, their minds were clouded to them. Then there were the hot bodies, the ones who were taking. There were few of them, but they were greedy.

He was one of the hot bodies, and he tasted sweat and blood, and other fluids, all thick on skin. He pushed the cold ones away and reached out to the warm ones.

Sasuke rebelled against that one, floundering helplessly in his bed and forcing his eyes open. He still felt it for a long moment. The physical sensations faded faster than the feeling of drawing the life out of men and women. That lingered, teasing a sense he didn't have a name for and couldn't drown out.

It occurred to him that in both - both what? Glimpses? Bits of dream? Whatever they were, in both of them he was feeding. He could feed, they told him. Anyone who touched him, anyone who fell into his traps, anyone who let themselves be led by him, were all making themselves food in one way or another.

When he closed his eyes again, he was ripping into a corpse. A small, tender corpse, with skin that wasn't yet hard. Flesh and blood and life. That was worse than the last, and nearly enough to jerk him awake entirely. He sat up in bed. He blinked and shook, and tried to clear his head.

But once the vision blurred, he collapsed back to his pillows. For a moment more he watched shadows climb the wall. Then his eyes slipped shut again and didn't open.

Blood again, but this time live. He lapped at it. His hands holding the nurse still as he tongued the wound he'd given her, drinking her blood and sucking the life out of her. In the dream, he didn't stop until she wasn't fighting anymore and her blood came slowly. She sighed at the last, and he took that too, because he could.

He shook that one off. It wasn't real. He remembered. He remembered the call button, and how she'd fallen to the floor when he let go of her. Tsunade had said she'd be okay. He remembered it.

His eyelids fluttered open too briefly to focus. Then he slid under again.

The other was bigger than him. Stronger than him. Its musk and its age overpowered him. The way it changed, furred one minute, masked the next, a man's face or a woman's or an animal's; it confused his eyes, but the power remained constant. It shared with him, first the dead, cold life that came from meat.

Later, they shared the heady electric power of the living. They passed her - the body was that of a woman, her eyes already turning glassy with exhaustion as tears of pain or ecstasy ran down her cheeks - using her hard. She started shivering, and he watched as the other nuzzled her cheek, as it licked her tears and cooed to her while Sasuke buried himself between her thighs. Afterward they ate her too. Nothing was left in the morning but clean bones and hair. And them.

Sasuke gasped. He was too far from the surface now. He tried to breathe, but it was the dream. It was blood and chakra, and buzzing with life while the compliant figure in his arms gave up everything. It was moaning with need and sensation rather than horror. The part of him that still recognized a dream wanted it to be horror. That part of him wanted it to be nausea in his belly, not hunger.

It was the other's taste, its heavy presence, and its burning eyes as it pinned him down.

Sasuke struggled to open his eyes. He managed to - he'd been afraid he couldn't. It didn't help. It didn't do anything. He saw his bedroom, shadows climbing the walls, and he saw the other, a screen of branches behind a face he couldn't make himself understand. Ears pinned back when he nipped at it. Fangs dented a full, feminine lip. His fingers traced the curve of a firm jaw. The eyes looking down at him were rich, dark brown, but burning red at the same time. He licked the blood off a narrow muzzle. He felt claws and fingers, skin and fur and shadows all touching him.

Air came in short, shallow gasps. Warmth danced up his chest and down his legs. It pooled in his groin, something harsher than lust. It was need. It was relief. It was deep and old and instinctual, and it came from him. It came from the other's mouth, when its lips were soft. It came from the other's eyes, red or brown or lost in the dark.

Where it came from didn't matter, because it was in him. It hurt. It burned. It bled in him. The other bit him, held him down and made him cry out, made him squirm.

The orgasm it ripped out of him left him hollow, faded, and sated in a way he'd never been before in his life.

He didn't dream after that.

Sasuke woke up with a stuttering breath, sticky with sweat and hopelessly snared in his bedding. Sunlight filtered through the curtains, warming the room. Birdsong carried through the window, cheerfully mundane.

Carefully, Sasuke unwound himself from his sheets. He'd sweated through them in the night, and they smelled strongly - his experience as a ninja had taught him how pain, fear, exertion or passion smelled. They all clung to his body, stale in the morning after. He hadn't really come, though. That, at least, had only been the dream.

He'd still have to change his sheets and take a shower.

His stomach clenched and churned at the memories that tried to surface, and Sasuke caught himself rubbing his arms. He half expected there to be welts where someone or something raked him with its nails. His skin was clear, though. The scars were all old.

Breathing slowly kept him from panting, kept him steady while he climbed out of bed and into the bathroom, where he was once again confronted with the mirror and his own bright, red-orange eyes. He leaned close to the mirror, searching his face for other signs. For the fangs he knew came and went. For something. Some other mark of what was happening, but it was his face. They were his hands. His teeth. His ears.

But not his eyes.

Dread curled like a snake in his stomach. He stepped back, shut his eyes, and whispered a prayer. _This has to work. It has to. Anything but losing my eyes._

"Sharingan."

Sasuke opened his eyes.

He fell backward and let the wall catch him. He could see in the clear, fast detail of Sharingan. Visual information beyond what anyone but perhaps a Hyuuga could process flooded his mind. He could see it. He sighed with relief so powerful it was physical.

Reflected in the mirror, his eyes were still fox eyes.

* * *

To be continued. 


	5. Chapter Five

Author's Note: More of this one, yes. This story is crack, and as such, it jumps me at odd times and writes itself a high speeds. As I've sad before: this story is crack. Do not look for any redeeming value. Or even too much of a plot. This is an excuse for a pseudo-vampire fic, people. That really should explain everything. -Repost- I forgot that likes to absorb my page breaks, and one minor correction.

Warnings: SasuNaru/NaruSasu Blood, demons, sex eventually.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Vice**

Chapter Five

* * *

The alarm went off early. For a long moment, Naruto sat in bed blinking and trying to remember why the hell he was waking up before nine when he didn't have a mission. Then he remembered and nearly let himself fall back to the mattress.

Sasuke.

He was supposed to keep an eye on Sasuke that afternoon, so he had planned to train this morning, before breakfast.

It had seemed like a good idea when it wasn't six thirty in the morning.

Fucking Sasuke.

But he did get up, and he stumbled through the bathroom, brushing his teeth and his hair. He dressed, and he watered his one anemic houseplant--he forgot if he didn't do it in the morning--and he managed only to trip over his dirty clothes once as he stretched and yawned and popped his way awake. He tucked enough money for breakfast into his pockets before he left for the training grounds, and he forgot his keys, but to hell with it. He was a ninja, and if he couldn't get into his own locked apartment, he deserved to stay outside.

The morning was starting to warm, but it was early enough in the year that it was still cool. The stifling summer humidity hadn't rolled in yet. The sky was achingly blue, barely touched by a few wisps of cloud. A stray breeze ruffled Naruto's hair as he walked. Naruto's jaw cracked in another yawn. At least it was a nice morning, if he had to be up. It would be a nicer morning for a nap though. He gave himself a tired shake and hurried to the training grounds.

As he moved, Naruto's tired mind stirred enough for worry. Was Sasuke any better today? Whatever was wrong with him, it didn't seem like something that just a good night's rest would cure, but perhaps it had helped. Maybe, as he'd suggested, Sasuke's own chakra just needed some time to adjust. Maybe losing the Kyuubi's chakra had side effects. How was he supposed to know? Other than him, he'd never heard of anyone else who had fox chakra, and Naruto had never had his taken away.

Could be the stuff was like a drug or something. Could be people got dependent on it.

Naruto scratched his cheek, considering, then took a fist full of his own hair and yanked.

It could be that. Or it could be that the Kyuubi had done something. The memory of his malicious humor was too clear to rule out that possibility. And fuck knew how that thing thought? Might as well ask a rock why it doesn't get up and walk away. The Kyuubi wasn't any more likely than the rock to answer, and talking to a rock wouldn't be as hard on his self-esteem.

Unless people thought he was crazy.

But that wasn't the point.

_The point_, Naruto thought sluggishly. _Fucking Sasuke._

Naruto would ask how Sasuke was later, when he was babysitting him. Hell, they'd dealt with a lot of shit from Sasuke. At least this time, their teammate's head was in the right place instead of firmly up his own ass. That had to be a good start.

This time, all he had to do was figure out the problem and fix it. Compared to fighting or reasoning with an Uchiha with his back up, this should be a cake walk.

They just had to wait for Tsunade to track down someone who knew about kitsune. Then they could get this whole mess straightened out as quickly as possible, and get back to missions, and not wake up at six thirty on an off morning. Until then, he, Sakura and Kakashi would just have to kill time and make sure Sasuke didn't eat anyone.

"I hate waiting," Naruto mumbled, arriving at the training ground. He shook himself again. He'd deal with that later. For now, he had laps to run.

* * *

Sasuke had gone back to bed after his experiment with the mirror. He still lay there, listless, when Naruto let himself in a little after noon. The bedroom was starting to smell like a sickroom by that point, and Sasuke knew it, though it wasn't the sticky-sweet odor of disease that was turning stale. Naruto's chakra complimented the smell disquietingly, raising the hairs on the back of Sasuke's neck.

He didn't look up, even though he could hear Naruto standing in his doorway. He could feel the heat of his friend's power on his back. Something in him squirmed toward that.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Sasuke pressed his face further into his pillow.

"Get up," Naruto said impatiently. He _felt_ impatient to Sasuke, sending off little ripples and crackles of energy. The hunger tugged at him.

The Uchiha curled his fingers into his blankets and gritted his teeth. "Fuck off."

The sound of padding footsteps brought Naruto closer to the bed. "Get up and take a shower."

"I said," Sasuke told the other tightly, "fuck off."

"I heard you," Naruto said, and his chakra buzzed in a way that made Sasuke almost queasy. It was like the whole room vibrated with it ever so slightly. Whatever the sense was that came with the Kyuubi's chakra, Sasuke hated it. Naruto kicked the bed, continuing. "Now get up and take a shower. Before I pick you up and throw you."

"I don't want to. So fuck off."

"What was that? I can't hear you, when you bite your pillow like that."

Sasuke turned his head to one side, looking back over his shoulder before he thought about the action. When it caught up with him, he glanced away. "Go to hell."

"If you aren't up by the time I count to three, I'm throwing you in the shower. I mean it."

"You wouldn't dare."

Sasuke didn't have to look to know Naruto was grinning. "Wanna bet?"

"Fuck off."

"Alright then," Naruto said, his voice taking on an unpleasant edge. Turning on his heel, he marched into the bathroom. Sasuke heard the tap come on, then the needle-hiss of the shower as it hit tile. Shouted from the bathroom, "One!"

"Turn off my fucking shower!" Sasuke called back, curling onto his side and stubbornly pretending he was going to go back to sleep.

"Two," this time from the door way.

"Naruto, turn off my fucking shower and go away."

"Why? So you can lay around some more?"

He didn't answer that, lips curling into a sneer. Was it like he had something better to do? He was waiting. He was waiting, and he was being watched, and he couldn't do anything until he heard from the Hokage, because no one knew anything useful about kitsune.

Being around people just made him feel empty.

"No answer?" Naruto asked, offering a short pause for reply. Sasuke ignored it. "Fine then. Three."

Sasuke could have avoided the hand that fisted in the back of his shirt and hauled him out of bed--but he would have had to get up to do it. He yanked himself free of Naruto's grip when he was on his feet, though. "Fuck off, I want to stay in bed."

"You want to mope," Naruto corrected, crossing his arms over his chest and planting his feet. His chakra loomed for him, making up for the difference in height. "That's boring. And it's depressing. And I'm not going to watch you lay in bed all afternoon. Now get in the shower. After that, we're going out."

"I don't want to go out," Sasuke replied darkly, doing his best to ignore the part of him that whined inside, telling him not to start a fight with Naruto. That was the new part.

The part that told him to nip and snarl, that wanted to pick a fight, was sort of new too, but at least the urge was familiar.

"Tough. You don't have any food in the house, and you're already up anyway--Will you look me in the goddamn eye when I'm talking to you?"

Sasuke cringed, suddenly very tired. He looked up and let his eyes meet Naruto's, the bright red-orange he'd seen in the mirror that morning still in the front of his mind. Naruto didn't respond, though. He just held Sasuke's gaze for a few long seconds.

"Thank you," Naruto said. "Now will you get in the fucking shower, or do I have to throw you?"

Sasuke scowled, but suddenly, he couldn't find the energy to protest. He stalked into the bathroom, tugging his shirt over his head as he walked. It was the same one he'd woke up in the hospital--there was no denying that it stunk. Naruto followed him to the door, laughing when Sasuke slammed it in his face.

He kept the shower quick. Even so, it felt better to be clean. The mirror was fogged when he got out; somehow, not having to face his reflection didn't make Sasuke feel any better.

Naruto was waiting for him when he came out, his hair still dripping. He grinned, and asked, "Isn't that better?"

Sasuke snorted, dropping his attention to somewhere around Naruto's elbow.

"You're doing that again," the blond complained immediately. "Quit doing that."

"Quit doing what?" Sasuke snapped, realized he'd raised his eyes, and frowned. He didn't look down again. He half-hoped Naruto would flinch, but he didn't. Maybe it didn't make that big of a difference to him.

That thought rankled. It made a difference to Sasuke.

Naruto's eyes were blue; striking, but not strange. Sasuke had seen them turn red, seen their pupils narrow to slits and thick black marks appear like heavy makeup around them. Right now, they were just eyes. A little odd, but not noteworthy unless you knew what to look for. It wasn't fair.

So why couldn't Naruto at least flinch? Was he trying to spare Sasuke's feelings?

"Come on. Let's get some lunch."

"I'm not leaving the house for ramen," Sasuke groused, turning away. Stalking across the bedroom, he forced his head clear. He rummaged through his clothes until he found a clean shirt, then clean pants.

"Fine, what do you want?" Naruto asked, his exasperation coming through clear. "I'll treat. Just get out of this apartment."

Sasuke's stomach grumbled at the thought of food, and he remembered his craving from the day before. He was still rather sore that he hadn't gotten what he wanted.

Naruto watched him dress, waiting for an answer.

"Onigiri," Sasuke said, and hated how young he sounded when he said it.

"And they say I'm predictable."

"Shut up."

Sasuke's hair still dripped water onto his collar when they left.

* * *

Sasuke wondered if Naruto was actually being intelligent when he chose to get lunch from a snack cart and eat it in the relative private of the park, or if it was just his luck. The people they passed, the shoppers and commuters and ninja, were each their own little temptation, and being around so many of them was frustrating.

In a way it was easier than being left alone with Naruto. With so many people, he didn't find himself focusing on any one of them as much.

It gave him a headache, the way he wanted to reach out and touch all of them.

At least Naruto could take care of himself.

The onigiri were good, in any case, and there was a certain strange satisfaction in getting what he wanted, even if it was the answer to a trivial craving. Naruto didn't eat, but lay sprawled on the grass, eyes closed, face toward the sun. His presence was comfortably... inactive? Diffuse? Something. It was still there, but thin and lazy.

Whether it was design or luck, Naruto had made a good choice. Sasuke ate, and when he was done, he sat in the shade.

The breeze that stirred the grass and their hair was hot. Summer was coming.

It was, he had to admit, a good afternoon for being lazy. The air already smelled more like dusty heat than green grass. He breathed deeply and told himself that Tsunade would have an answer soon. He almost believed it.

Sasuke thought Naruto must have drifted off for a nap when, unexpectedly, he said, "What's it like?"

"What's what like?" Sasuke asked, dropping his eyes before Naruto looked at them.

Naruto waved a hand through the space between them, indicating nothing in particular. "What's--" he false-started, then gave up. Instead, he said, "Why do you keep doing that?"

"What?"

"Not looking at me."

Sasuke clenched his teeth. He made himself look Naruto squarely in the eyes. It was hard. It was very, very hard. It shouldn't have been, but especially after the other ninja mentioned it specifically, he couldn't tamp down the insecurity. The thing in him was right there, written on his face.

He held himself firm.

Naruto watched him, his own very human eyes heavily lidded.

"Well?" he said, after a short staring match.

Sasuke started in surprise, looking away for a moment, then back again. "My eyes," he answered awkwardly.

Scowling, Naruto cocked his head. "What about them?"

"Naruto," Sasuke said slowly, meeting his friend's gaze more easily, "how do my eyes look to you?"

A frown line appeared between Naruto's brows and the man propped himself up on his elbow. He stopped puffing his cheeks out. He looked at Sasuke's eyes, his own sharpening as he studied them. Sasuke kept his stare level. Finally, Naruto said, "They look like they always do. Is this a trick question? Are they supposed to look different or something?"

"That's not right," Sasuke whispered, frowning. Unless his eyes were normal again. Somehow, if that were the case, he expected to feel different. He still felt exactly the same as he had yesterday.

Damn it. He didn't like not understanding this. He should have been happy that his eyes were normal, but instead his lunch gave a queasy lurch.

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke shook his head. "Don't worry about it," he assured weakly. "It's nothing."

The conversation, such as it was, faded off after that. Sasuke's thoughts spun, but nothing came from them. He just didn't know what was going on. Naruto saw his eyes the same as always, but he knew that if he looked in the mirror, they wouldn't be. They wouldn't be like they always were at all.

Naruto's chakra tinted the air. It seemed to filter the sunlight a little more red than yellow, but it wasn't really seen.

Sometime later, after Sasuke had given up pondering the implication of his eyes, Neji and Lee spotted them. Sasuke had let himself doze off, blissfully free of dreams, but he woke up when he felt them coming near.

Shinobi, he was learning, felt different from other people. He could tell just from the taste on the air and the prickle on his skin that they were powerful. Neji drew his attention. He was different even from others.

A frisson went through his senses. He knew Hyuuga chakra was different, but he'd never felt it before. Lee followed the same pattern as Sakura and Kakashi: a tempting warmth. Neji was cool--not cold, but cool, like an autumn breeze on sweat--and he flowed like a thick liquid rather than burning. It was strangely fitting that the image that came to mind for him was more like milk than anything else.

Milk thick with cream.

Oblivious to this, Naruto cracked an eye open at the arrivals. "Hello?"

"Good afternoon," Neji said, and Sasuke got another frisson. The Hyuuga's chakra teased him.

"What's up?"

Neji answered. Sasuke didn't hear it, though he registered the even delivery. He was too distracted by the temptation to take a taste to pay much attention. He could see himself touching Neji in his mind's eye. He could see himself biting, clawing, kissing. The images were more vivid than they had been with Sakura.

He could see getting Neji to touch him. Could see himself provoking Neji to fight him, to follow him, to fuck him. Could see dangling control in front of the Hyuuga and letting him give up himself. The idea was funny, in a dark way that he didn't like to admit.

Would Neji rise to the right sort of bait?

The memory of the last night's dreams came back, and yes, Sasuke thought he could see Neji in some of those scenarios. He tried not to think of it, but it wasn't hard. It wasn't hard to picture fighting him. It wasn't hard to picture leading him. It wasn't hard to picture using him until he was limp and cold.

He was already so cool.

Sasuke wanted a taste.

Licking his lips, he wondered, could he get just a taste of that? Did he have to be touching? He thought not, but they had to be engaged one way or another. The dream seemed to imply as much. It felt right.

Maybe if it were just a taste, he wouldn't have to be touching, though. More than that, he was sure, required contact. He didn't really know how he knew exactly, and he didn't like trusting the instinct. But then, he didn't like wanting this either. He did, though. He wanted it so bad it hurt.

He was hungry, and Neji was interesting. He was no less vital than Lee, but he was so different. Naruto's chakra, even at rest, was raging by comparison.

Perhaps, he thought, just a taste. What was white chakra like? Could he roll it across his tongue like he had the nurse's, or did that take blood?

The truly human him recoiled. That part was disturbingly small.

He breathed in, looking for Neji's flavor in the air. He could almost find it, sharp and clear, and just a little bitter.

"Sasuke," Neji said, startling him. "Can I have a word with you?"

Sasuke shot a questioning look to Naruto, who shrugged noncommittally. He flipped his wrist at them as though to say, "Don't go too far." He was already shifting his attention to Lee.

"Yeah, I suppose," Sasuke told him, picking himself up off the ground. He shouldn't be doing this. He should say no. He wanted to. He did want to. He wanted to be alone with the Hyuuga more; he wanted the opportunity to take a bite.

It was the fox-thing in him arguing with the human. The problem was--beyond having something that was and wasn't him disagreeing with something that was definitely him--the human didn't like having to fight itself. The human wanted most to believe it was in control. The fox-thing just wanted for them to get up and go with Neji. It wanted him to find someway to draw Neji in, and some way to take.

While the different parts were arguing, Sasuke stood and followed Neji a comfortable distance away from the others.

The white chakra was nearly silky.

Sasuke hadn't reached out for it yet when Neji's fingers struck him low in the throat. He should have seen the punch coming. The air was suddenly burning his lungs, and his windpipe was a knot of pain. His breath creaked past it. Neji's fingers had hit him just so on his throat, not deeply, but deep enough. Any harder and he really wouldn't have been able to breathe.

"That," Neji said coldly, "should not have connected."

Sasuke didn't answer, struggling to stand up straight while he choked. He glared at the other ninja. The corner of Neji's mouth might have twitched toward a condescending smirk. It may have been disgust in his pale eyes. Hyuuga features were hard to read. Whatever passed over them, he wasn't pleased.

"I don't know what you were trying to do," Neji continued, tilting his chin imperiously. "But I do know that you _were_ doing it. Do not do it again."

Sasuke glared, forcing himself to swallow. It nearly started another coughing fit. Neji looked down at him, waiting for his response. That white chakra moved around him, poised. It was bitter really, but a clear taste.

One of Neji's brows kicked up, not impatient. "Have I made myself understood?"

"Perfectly," Sasuke agreed harshly.

Neji snorted, a superior, Hyuuga sound, and then turned away to collect Lee. Sasuke waited until he was breathing normally again before he joined Naruto and informed him that it was time to go back to his apartment.

* * *

To be continued. 


	6. Chapter Six

Author's Note: More crack. Birthday crack, at that. Go me! Anyway, still crack, still pointless, still just writing it for the fun. Hopefully everyone is enjoying.

Warnings: See previous chapters. Also, some (more) Sasuke weirdness.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Vice**

Chapter Six

* * *

"What the hell was that about?" Naruto snapped as they walked back to Sasuke's home. He had to hurry to keep up with the Uchiha's longer stride, and Sasuke wasn't in the mood to slow down so the idiot could look more dignified. Fuck him. It was his fault for not being taller.

He could still _taste_ Neji's chakra, cool and bitter, but smooth. Shame burned in his stomach. He hadn't been able to control himself.

Neji's words hurt more than his punch had. Sasuke had a high tolerance for pain; less so for humiliation.

Naruto grabbed his arm, his chakra scorching. The exact opposite of Neji's. "Sasuke!"

"What?" Sasuke hissed back, shaking his arm free.

"What the fuck just got into you?" the other demanded, gesturing widely. His eyes pinned Sasuke's. This time Sasuke didn't care to flinch away. Naruto's power buzzed around him, agitated and potent, and Sasuke wanted it so bad he ached.

And Neji had seen that, the prick.

"Well?" Naruto pressed.

Sasuke tensed. He was not--was not--telling Naruto what had happened. Not now. Not when the shame was still fresh. Probably not later either, when it wouldn't matter anymore. So finally, he hedged, "I'm hungry."

Naruto blinked, surprised, and lost his edge. "We just ate... oh."

"Oh," Sasuke repeated humorlessly.

They walked the rest of the way to Sasuke's apartment at a more sedate pace. Naruto didn't say anything else. It was still early, still bright and warm, the sun almost a physical weight across Sasuke's back. People were out, shopping and visiting and working, just walking. Sasuke grit his teeth and ignored them. If it weren't for the sparks they put off, he might have felt alone on the street.

Sasuke expected Naruto to leave once they got back, but he didn't. He invited himself in and sat down on Sasuke's couch. His expression was thoughtful.

Sasuke shrugged and locked the door behind them. He sat away from Naruto. It was already becoming habit to keep himself at a distance. The thought left him a little sick, but the temptation was too strong not to acknowledge.

Sighing, he wondered why exactly the world seemed to hate him.

It was a long time before Naruto broke the silence that grew between them, saying, "You eat chakra, right? More or less."

"That's part of it, yeah," Sasuke agreed. He was tired. Very, very tired. Last night's dream flitted near by, not something heard or seen or felt, but a little off all three.

"So..." Naruto said, fidgeting absently. "I could feed you, couldn't I? I mean, hell, I have enough chakra for both of us, right?"

"Naruto," Sasuke began, and was surprised himself with how much it sounded like a protest. Hadn't he thought the same thing? Hadn't he tried when he first found Naruto after waking up?

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," he said awkwardly. "You're chakra is what did this in the first place. Adding more might not be a smart." Fuck, but he wanted more.

Naruto explained quickly, "Yeah, I thought of that. But if it's like a withdrawal or something, maybe more would make it less like getting off all the sudden, right? Either way, it's better if you aren't trying to eat people."

Sasuke couldn't argue with that. He didn't want to argue with that, either. He wanted to crawl over to Naruto and do whatever it was he did. He wanted to take everything he could hold. Something inside him shivered and turned. He _wanted_.

"Are you sure about this?" Sasuke asked and, more than anything, he wanted Naruto to say no. He wanted Naruto to stop this now, to think better of it.

Idly, he wondered what Naruto's blood would taste like; thick as it was with the Kyuubi.

Laughing dryly, Naruto said, "Not really. But do you have a better idea? Better me than someone else. Why are you being a girl about this?"

"I'm not being a girl," Sasuke shot back, but without much heat. "I'm trying to be reasonable."

"So am I," Naruto assured. "And I'm glad you didn't just leap at the chance, really I am, but I think that it's worth a shot, isn't it?"

Sasuke didn't argue. He bit his lip, and didn't stand. He didn't cross the space between them. He didn't trust himself, and he hated it. He hated thinking that he might wrap around Naruto and just take and take until he couldn't take anymore. Until, impossibly, he took too much.

But Naruto was right. Naruto had more than enough. Naruto had enough chakra to burn him up. In a weird, irrelevant way, it made Sasuke want to gloat because he could still beat his friend in a fight as often as he lost, even with that handicap. Naruto had enough reserves to destroy his own body, though, and his body was used to handling ridiculous amounts of power. Sasuke would flash out like a fly in a bug zapper if he took too much.

Sasuke swallowed hard.

"Well," Naruto said when Sasuke stalled. "How do we start?"

Sasuke took a deep breath and stood up slowly, holding his back straight. He approached Naruto cautiously. His mouth was suddenly dry, and that thing inside him was squirming, but he would do this like a man. He would not whimper or sidle up to Naruto diffidently like that part wanted. That part of him wasn't him.

"I think..." He stopped in front of Naruto, voice carefully neutral. "I think that I have to touch you."

"You think?"

"I know that works." An irritable growl tried to climb out of his throat. He held it back.

"Okay, then," the blond said, meeting Sasuke's eyes. Did they still look black now, or were they fox eyes? "Then touch me."

Sasuke's hands didn't shake. He didn't know how he managed that. It felt like they should have been. He was steady as he put his hands on Naruto's shoulders. He could feel the heat of Naruto's body through his tee shirt. He was always warm, like he was running a mild temperature. He was warm on Sasuke's other senses, too. Naruto filled that sense. That thing that was more like touch than anything else, but sometimes seemed like smell and sometimes like taste, and occasionally like sight. That sense told him that Naruto was blazing. He could feel the fire smoldering up his arms, like a fuse turning to ash.

Naruto's jaw flexed, and Sasuke wondered if he felt it also. Was he even aware of this side of himself? Or was he really totally oblivious to his own presence?

Until two days ago, Sasuke had been. On one level, he couldn't blame Naruto for not knowing. On another, he didn't know how anyone could be so blind, deaf and numb.

"I'm ready when you are," Naruto encouraged. The words fell a little flat.

Sasuke nodded, and took.

And suddenly all the control he thought he had vanished, incinerated in the heat that poured out of the other man and into him. He couldn't stand up straight anymore--he couldn't even stand. He crouched before his friend, back and knees folding; his hands slid from Naruto's shoulders to his chest. His finger curled against hard muscle.

Sasuke felt a pressure in his mouth, and knew the fangs were back. He knew his eyes were orange now, if they hadn't been before. He could see his fingernails as they hardened and grew to points.

Naruto watched him with a look of... surprise, maybe? Not horrified surprise, but detached curiosity sort of surprise. Like someone catching a plot twist in a movie they were only vaguely interested in. His eyes, though, weren't detached. They were very, very immediate. For all that they were still blue, still human in appearance, the look in them was not. The eyes, at odds with the face, were the eyes of a predator in its own territory. They weren't threatening, not to him, but not afraid either.

It was a look Sasuke had seen a few other times, something alien behind Naruto's eyes.

Except now, it wasn't.

Sasuke wanted to touch the other man's skin. He wanted to feel the life in Naruto, wanted it without any barrier.

He climbed onto the couch, straddling Naruto's lap and reaching up to cup his face.

Naruto hissed at the contact, his lips pulling into a small sneer. It wasn't the bad kind of sneer. Sasuke hadn't even known there wasn't a bad kind. Fire and life and chakra moved into Sasuke's body, tingled through him, warmed and fed and filled him. This close, he couldn't sense the end of it. It seemed as limitless as the ocean or the sky.

He almost laughed. Instead he leaned closer and breathed in the smell, the life, that pulsed in the air around him.

* * *

Naruto felt like someone had punched him in the head. In a good way, though. It was the same feeling of impact, not really pain, just being hit by something. Hard.

His skin felt strange where Sasuke touched him, half-numb and heavy, stinging slightly with chakra. It didn't hurt. Far from it. But it seemed, in a way, like it did. Like his brain couldn't think of a better way to interpret the sensation.

That shock was nothing compared to the change in Sasuke. One moment he had been standing hesitantly in front of Naruto, the next he was wiggling into his lap in a manner that was nearly childish. The way his fingers moved over his jaw, feeling out the shape and texture, wasn't the touch of an adult. It was more like a kid who'd just discovered something soft, something interesting.

The closeness wasn't childish, though. Not really. The way Sasuke went to lengths to keep his head lower than Naruto's, even though he was taller and sitting higher up, wasn't childish. It wasn't normal.

His mouth was near Naruto's ear, moving silently.

His hands were pleading.

Something warm curled through Naruto's stomach, something that might have been disgust but wasn't, as it clicked.

Submissive.

The word submissive in conjunction with Sasuke's name was beyond ludicrous. There was nothing submissive about Sasuke. Ever.

Until now, with his hands encouraging and his soundless mouthing evolving into whimpers, and a drain that was starting to make itself felt. It wasn't really like having used his chakra, or like when he'd given his chakra to Sasuke. That was there, a little, but it was different. It was a rush--adrenaline and endorphins, and sexual enough that he ought to be uncomfortable with the fact that it was coming from his best friend.

Sasuke wasn't really like the Sasuke who was his best friend, though. Not when he was acting like this. This, this was the thing in Sasuke coming out. A thing Naruto had put there, somehow.

He thought about putting his arm around Sasuke's waist to settle him, but he didn't. Naruto's hands stayed at his sides, even as his breathing sped to a pant to match Sasuke's. The eyes that peeked out from behind Sasuke's bangs from time to time were orange. Bright, true orange.

Then Sasuke-who-wasn't-Sasuke nuzzled him. His nose and his lips brushed against the side of Naruto's neck, and Naruto nearly thought he could feel Sasuke nibbling at his chakra.

Naruto had jutsu that took more chakra than this.

Those hands still pleaded, running down to brace on Naruto's arms, that mouth whispered into his skin. Sasuke nuzzled, he shifted closer. His body was warmer now. More than just warmer, it was hot. Under other circumstances, Naruto would have worried. People shouldn't be that hot.

Sasuke's body hummed above him, a gentle, satisfied vibration. The drain slowed, then stopped. It took Naruto a moment to figure out it was because the other was full. Sasuke couldn't take any more.

He kept nuzzling though, kept close. His body language didn't change, needy and inhuman. His mouth moved, not a kiss, but something. Something that came again. And again.

A taste.

"Sasuke..." Naruto said, surprised to hear his voice sound hoarse to his own ears.

"Hm?" Sasuke murmured, and he laughed.

In Naruto's experience, Sasuke only had two laughs. The first was a nearly noiseless chuckle--half the time he hid it in snorts. If something really struck him as funny, his chest would shake and you could hear his breathing catch. The other was not so pleasant. Like the smug, bastard offspring of a snicker and a giggle. Naruto had heard it before, and now it raised his hackles.

"Sasuke," he said, more urgently. "Are you okay?"

"Hm." The sound was... well fed. "Fine." Sasuke wriggled closer as he spoke, so their hips and bellies touched. He kept his head low, and the position nearly wrapped him around Naruto. His breath ghosted over the side of Naruto's neck and face, strangely sweet.

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke hushed him, breath shooshing against skin. Then he hunched, nuzzling. As though he were apologizing for the familiarity. It was wrong. It wasn't Sasuke. Sasuke would have just told him to shut up.

Naruto's seal prickled his stomach, and he felt an emotion that wasn't his leaking from behind the Nine-Tail's gate: humor. The thing was fucking amused. Naruto couldn't even begin to guess if it was amused by Sasuke's behavior, or because it thought this was a joke, or just because Naruto was half hard for all he wished he wasn't.

"Shh," Sasuke shushed again, and giggled. A giddy, intoxicated, utterly _wrong_ little giggle. His tongue flicked Naruto's throat, and he whined, still begging.

Naruto wasn't sure if he wanted to be sick, or to roll Sasuke under him.

No, that was a lie. But he wished he wanted to be sick. He wished that his body didn't hum with a strange satisfaction, and that he didn't want to respond to the way Sasuke touched him, to what Sasuke obviously wanted from him.

A long, moist lick sent a shiver down Naruto's spine. It made his teeth itch, and his hands itch to touch back.

"Sasuke, I don't," he tried, and stopped. He couldn't find the words that came after that.

"So don't," Sasuke whispered, then pressed close and buried his face in Naruto's shoulder. Taste.

Naruto reached up, his hands going to Sasuke's waist, his fingers creeping under the hem of the other man's shirt and touching his sides, his back. Skin was hot, damp with sweat, sticky under his finger tips.

He groaned as Sasuke kissed his neck, feeling teeth behind the other's lips. Sasuke's hands were insistent. They groped at his arms and shoulders. Nails like claws pricked him.

Then Sasuke bit him. Pain and shock cleared Naruto's head in a rush. He stood, pushing Sasuke off him and onto the floor. His hand went to the side of his neck. The wound was already sizzling closed, though his finger tips still came away bloody.

There was blood on Sasuke's lips. His posture was submissive again, still, whatever, but the effect was spoiled by the blood and by the sniggering, snickering, giggling laughter that Sasuke couldn't seem to contain.

Naruto didn't bother saying goodbye before he ran out the door. He just hoped Sasuke stayed put until someone else showed up to watch him.

* * *

To be continued. 


	7. Chapter Seven

Author's Note: Sorry for the wait on this chapter. Don't you hate writer's block?

Warnings: Blood, demons, sex eventually.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

** Vice**

**

* * *

**  
Chapter Seven

Sasuke didn't remember falling asleep, but he knew he was dreaming. What was happening now couldn't be happening, so this had to be a dream. The Other was there, and It only ever appeared in dreams.

It felt real, though. He felt It over him, around him and in him; Its crushing presence, and Its burning eyes, and Its face shifting in the shadows above him while Its clawed hands pressed his shoulders into the ground or the bed or the floor. Its hard body moving rhythmically over his.

He thrashed under It. Squirmed. Arched. Panted. He begged it wordlessly for more of whatever it was giving. Anything It had, he wanted It was so much, so much bigger than him, so much stronger than him, so much _more_ than he was. He was a meager, greedy thing by comparison.

And he was too lost to care.

He lay there and shivered under the onslaught. The Other's hands were on him. The other's lips brushed his skin.

Sasuke tangled his body with Its, soaking It up.

When Sasuke woke, he found himself alone on his livingroom floor, with his pants uncomfortably wet. His whole body still thrummed with Naruto's chakra, though the euphoria was gone. He was just full. Unbelievably, totally full, in a way he didn't even know existed. He realized, then, just how very hungry he had been.

He remembered Naruto's face, twisted up in disgust, and he thought he'd be sick.

Excepting the time between feeding off Naruto and falling asleep, he had never felt better in his life.

* * *

The next morning found Sakura on his door step, eyes fixed firmly on a point somewhere on the floor to Sasuke's left. He couldn't quite regret that she wouldn't meet his eyes. He didn't want to have to be the one to look away.

"Tsunade sent me for you," she told him, as though she needed an excuse to be there. "Naruto and Kakashi should be there already."

Sasuke nodded and found his shoes. They walked to the Hokage's tower together, but Sasuke might as well have been alone. She didn't come too close or try to fill the silence with pointless chatter. He tried to be grateful for that, but in the end, he was glad that it was a short walk to the Hokage's tower. If he could be glad of anything, under the circumstances.

Sasuke stepped into the office, and straight into a tired frown from the Hokage. She didn't look older, but she felt it. Her chakra was faded, for all its strength.

"Do you want to sit?" Tsunade asked, lips pursed seriously. There was an empty chair in front of her. Kakashi was in the other, apparently absorbed in flipping the pages of one of his novels. If the battered condition of the spine was any indication, it wasn't the first, or even the second time he'd read it.

Naruto didn't look up, and Sasuke pretended he didn't see his other teammate. He was, himself, still buzzing with the Kyuubi's power. It resonated strangely with Naruto, filling the room with half-heard static.

Abruptly, Sasuke realized he wasn't answering. "I'll stand," he said, too late to sound casual. Covering for his pause, he took a position by the door. He shouldn't really have been there, not when he wasn't much more than a prisoner, but no one stopped him.

Sakura took the empty chair, smoothing her clothes primly and folding her hands in her lap. She was still looking at the floor.

Tsunade frowned at them all, eyes flicking from one to the next. "I see it's been a long couple of days."

Kakashi turned a page. Naruto went so far as to bark a cynical laugh.

"I'll keep it brief then," the Fifth said, leaning back in her chair. One hand propped up her chin. Her thin brows were drawn into crooked angles by a bemused expression. "You're all excused from duty indefinitely. I'll arrange a small pension for you, should it become necessary--and it sure as hell had better not."

She paused, dividing a weak glare among them. When she continued, her tone brooked no nonsense. "For the time being, you'll be looking for this man." One hand moved in a slow, graceful gesture, taking a folder from her desk and tossing it to Kakashi, who caught it without looking up from his book. He hadn't turned the page since she started talking, though. "That is Inoshita Yasuo. He's thirty-three. Single. No known residency, though he's normally found in Fire or Grass Country, he's been known to travel much further. There's a couple of good pictures in there, and whatever else we could dig up on the guy."

"Why do we care?" Trust Naruto to ask that. Sasuke occasionally wondered if he was trying to make up what he lacked in tact by lacking more tact. It saved him from having to ask himself, though.

"Heh," Tsunade noised as she shot the blond a warning look. He scowled back, unimpressed, until she continued. "They say he knows more about kitsune than anyone else in five countries."

Sasuke stood up straighter. His ears itched, twitching as though they wanted to angle forward and hear better. "What?"

"What did you think I called the lot of you here for? It sure as hell wasn't the pleasure of your company." She sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "He's the expert."

"What makes him an expert?" Sakura asked before anyone else could. Sasuke snorted, holding back a chuckle; she was the only one who could make the question sound respectful. Tsunade's eyes were tired when they fixed on Sakura, rather than annoyed. Her chakra was a precisely controlled wave around her. Sasuke could taste it, less tempting than before, but still teasing his senses.

"He's a priest," she explained simply. "And an exorcist. He's made it his life's work to learn about monsters, and use that knowledge to fight them more efficiently.

"I'm sure you'll appreciate that I couldn't ask directly if anyone knew where I could find the solution to our problem," she added. "I sent out discreet inquiries about kitsune. His was the name I got back." Her voice was firm. She didn't sound optimistic. She sounded like a doctor explaining treatment options for a potentially fatal disease.

For a long moment, no one spoke, and Sasuke had to reassure himself that if he needed to put his faith in a doctor, at least he had a competent one. Too bad this wasn't really medicine, or he might have felt secure enough to hope that whatever was wrong with him would be repaired soon.

All he felt was cold, though. A sudden, strange chill he couldn't quite explain, and grabbed him by the core. If he didn't know better, he might have called it anxiety. Foolish thought, that. What did he have to lose? In the worst case scenario, this priest couldn't help him, so they looked for someone else.

No.

If worse came to worst, he told them that there was no use looking for anyone else, because there was no cure.

And if that happened, then Sasuke was no worse off than he was now.

He closed his eyes thoughtfully, rolling that over in his head. The worst, the absolute worst, was keeping what he had now. That wasn't so bad, really. It was nothing he couldn't live with. Even in the worst, this priest would have to be able to shed some light of what was happening to him. He'd be able to understand his situation better. That was as bad as it could get.

At best, Inoshita Yasuo would be able to tell them just what was wrong, and just how to fix it. Sasuke didn't expect the best, though. He didn't need to hope for it. He just needed to be able to live with the worst.

"Sasuke?" Naruto said. He was trying not to sound worried. Naruto was a bad liar, especially when Sasuke could feel the nervous fizzle of his chakra around him. From Naruto, it was like standing in a field in a thunderstorm and being the tallest thing in sight. The hair on the back of Sasuke's arms stood up. His eyes opened, and he met Naruto's level gaze. Did his own eyes still look human?

"What?" he asked tightly.

"What's up?"

Sasuke snorted and tore his gaze away, tamping down the chill. "Nothing."

"Sasuke," Naruto said again, and Sasuke didn't have to see him frown to know he did. He could hear it in his voice, and in the way he shifted his weight forward.

"When do we leave?" Sasuke interrupted.

"Sasuke." It was Sakura this time. "Don't you--"

"When do we leave," he repeated, ignoring whatever she was going to say. "And where do we start?"

"Tomorrow," Tsunade answered, sitting up straight, chin tilted to an imperious angle. "You're ninja. You figure it out. This is your team's problem, unless you want it to be mine.

One of her eyebrows kicked up a notch, daring someone--daring Sasuke--to talk back. "Do you want it to be my problem, Sasuke?"

Sasuke sneered. Maybe, coming from her, the threat had weight. Her chakra seemed to turn toward him, as clearly menacing as if she had drawn back her arm to throw a punch. He still sneered.

Then he looked away.

"We'll take care of it," Naruto said firmly, answering for Sasuke. Sakura voiced her agreement, softer and in politer terms. He didn't bother to catch the words, but the meaning was clear enough.

Kakashi closed his book with an audible whap. Putting it away, he stood up and faced the Hokage across her desk. "If that's all?"

"Dismissed."

* * *

The sun was shining brightly in a blue sky so vivid that it hurt Naruto's eyes when he first stepped out into it. The few remnants of white cloud did nothing to dim the morning. He sighed heavily, wishing that he could enjoy it. Shouldn't nice days be reserved for, well, nice days? Shit ought to happen on rainy, miserable days. For one thing, that was it wouldn't ruin a good mood, and for another, there was more sense of the dramatic.

Watching Sasuke bow his head, sulking his way up the street, just didn't look right when the sun was shinning almost blue off his hair. He was so pale, he would probably sunburn. A peeling nose wouldn't do anything to add to the mood.

Sakura started after Sasuke hesitantly. Naruto grabbed her wrist and pulled her to a stop next to him. "I'll take him home. I really should talk to him... or something." He grinned, doing his best to make it look natural. "Maybe I should just kick his ass, you think?"

"Naruto," Sakura began, turning away to stare after Sasuke. He could see the frown lines appear between her brows and her mouth open to protest, but instead all she said was, "Don't fight with him, okay?"

Naruto blinked, then smiled again. He managed to make it more convincing this time, he was sure of it. "Don't worry. I have it covered."

"Will someone escort me home?" Sasuke broke into the moment, voice taut. Naruto and Sakura both jumped, startled, and looked after Sasuke. He was waiting up the road, back turned on them.

"Well?" he gritted when neither of them moved. "I'm still not supposed to be left alone where I can get to civilians or genin, right? So whoever's going to follow me, hurry up."

Swallowing hard, Naruto let go of Sakura's arm and stepped away. "Coming!"

"Ah, I'll... we'll see you tomorrow, okay Sasuke?" Sakura called, not quite stuttering. She bobbed a quick goodbye to Naruto as she turned to go.

For a moment after she left, the two boys didn't move. Sasuke was waiting for him, and Naruto wasn't quite ready to talk about last night yet. Shit, he didn't want to talk about it at all. But this was Sasuke, and Naruto was fairly certain he couldn't stay quiet about the whole thing, and expect his teammate just to be reasonable. He was Sasuke. He'd brood--like sulking, but with aspiration.

Damn it, Naruto really was putting this off.

"Are you coming, dumbass?" Sasuke asked harshly.

"Why? You got a date?" Naruto shot back, half out of habit.

"Just hurry the fuck up."

Naruto swallowed again; Sasuke's voice was low and rough, nearly a growl, and it made the Kyuubi cock an ear and grin somewhere in the back of his brain. He ran after Sasuke, though.

"What's the hurry?"

"I want to go home and pack. I'd think that would be obvious." Sasuke said without even a sideways glance.

Naruto rolled his eyes. This was still Sasuke, no matter what happened--and he was proving it. So, what was stopping Naruto from talking to him? "So, ah, how are you doing today?"

Sasuke shrugged without breaking stride. "How do you think I am?"

"If I knew, I wouldn't have asked."

"If you knew, the world would be coming to an end."

"Then why did you ask how I thought you were?"

That won him a quick glare before Sasuke remembered that he was supposed to be impassive or stoic or whatever the fuck he was going for. Sulky. At least there were no dark circles under his eyes today. He looked like he actually got some sleep.

"Well?" Naruto pressed. "What's up?"

"Is there a point to this?" Sasuke asked impatiently, quiet but nothing like soft.

"Yeah, there's a point!" Naruto responded immediately. He had the decency to blush afterward. He didn't mean it to sound like he didn't care about Sasuke normally, but yeah, under the circumstances, of course there was a point.

Sasuke slid his hands in his pockets in what might have been an unconscious gesture, or might have been an effort not to hit him. Naruto was leaning toward the first. He doubted Sasuke would have restrained himself if he was just going to hit him.

At least, he wouldn't normally. Naruto remembered Sasuke the night before, keeping his head low while he fed. His mouth went dry at the thought. It was hard to be sure of anything after that.

"Then just get to the point, Naruto," Sasuke said.

Naruto closed his eyes. "Are you okay? Are you still hungry?"

A slow breath hissed out from between Sasuke's clenched teeth. His hands were balled into fists in his pockets. He answered slowly. "I'm fine."

"Okay...?" Naruto couldn't sound sure of that. "Really?"

"Yes, really."

Nodding, Naruto sped up enough to see Sasuke's profile clearly. "That's good, at least, right?"

Sasuke clenched his jaw. "I suppose so."

"Yeah," Naruto reassured. "Yeah, that's good."

"As long as we don't think about why," Sasuke spat, turning off the street toward his building.

Naruto stopped mid-step and had to scramble to catch up. "Sasuke?"

"What?" Sasuke paused on the step, frowning back at Naruto over his shoulder. At least he was looking now.

"I just..." Naruto paused, not really sure how to say this. "I just don't want things to be weird between us. I know that what happened last night, that wasn't really you, right? I know that, so you don't have to think I'll hold it against you. Or that if that's what you need, I'm not here for you. You should know better than that, but you're really stupid sometimes." The last was barely above a whisper.

Sasuke blinked, surprise clear on his face in the second before he tamped it down. He snorted, then, a weak smirk tugging up one corner of his mouth. "It's not what I need."

Naruto shrugged uncomfortably. "Well, if it is..." he trailed off, changing his mind. He's happier than he'd like to admit that Sasuke didn't want to do that again. "Just don't let it get weird, okay?"

"It's already weird, Naruto."

"I'm not kidding." He blushed again; it heated up his whole face. "We're going to fix this, and I don't want things being weird between us."

"I'm not kidding either," Sasuke said, opening his door. "Were you going to come in, or are you leaving now?"

Naruto glared. "I mean it."

Sasuke turned away. "Staying out then. Goodbye."

The door was opened and closed before Naruto could protest, leaving an empty step and Naruto alone outside to curse in the sunshine.

* * *

To be continued. 


End file.
